MaBlanyo: The farmer who wanted to be a guitarist

Langton Nyakwenda

NEVER short of interesting nuggets, Lloyd “MaBlanyo” Chigowe immediately dropped one as we sat down for a laid-back interview at a local joint in Highfield, his home suburb, on Thursday.

He had promised to meet this reporter at noon, but delayed a bit as he wanted to collect his Ford Everest vehicle that was being serviced.

The lanky gaffer, who is basking in glory after guiding Dynamos to their second consecutive Chibuku Super Cup trophy, had also promised to drive this reporter to his farm in Selous, but time constraints put paid to the proposed journey.

When he finally arrived, Chigowe was lively as usual. His phone was ringing endlessly and he had no option but to switch it off.

“A lot of people are looking for me, but I guess we should prioritise this interview,” he said.

“But there’s one thing that I want to make clear before we go any further, Mr Scribe.

“Some people in the football fraternity should desist from alleging that MaBlanyo thrived on age cheating when he dominated junior football in the 2000s.

“Indeed, I was the dominant character in junior football in terms of winning trophies, but it had nothing to do with age manipulation, but purely to do with talent identification.”

As expected, he dropped the punchline.

“But, if you look at it now, we have won the Chibuku Super Cup, which is open to any player, even those who are over 50. So, this latest victory has nothing to do with age.

“Sometimes it’s about God’s time and being tactically correct.”

The 60-year-old gaffer played a crucial role when Dynamos won their maiden Chibuku Super Cup title last season.

He was assistant to Genesis Mangombe, but took charge of a high-stakes semi-final clash against FC Platinum at Mandava Stadium. This happened when Mangombe was out on national duty.

Mangombe was fired in August this year and Chigowe took over on an interim basis.

The vastly experienced gaffer is now set to be given a permanent job when the Dynamos executive meet to review the 2024 season.

Sources say the meeting will rubberstamp Chigowe’s appointment, as the gaffer has done enough to get a permanent post, for the second time.

“It’s up to the executive to decide on the coach, but what’s important is Dynamos as an institution. The club should move with pace in tying down players so that whoever comes in as the substantive coach has somewhere to start from,” said Chigowe.

A number of key players, including Soccer Star of the Year finalist Emmanuel Jalai, have contracts expiring on December 31.

Star midfielder Donald Mudadi has been linked with a move to champions Simba Bhora.

“It’s critical to secure players now,” said Chigowe.

A renowned junior talent scout, Chigowe feels DeMbare can still survive to fight another day, even if some of the key players leave.

“There are a number of good junior players in the Dynamos system,” he said. “Many didn’t know about Freddy Aleck, but you can see what he is doing now.

“Look at Vusa Ngwenya; he has the potential and there are lot of brilliant players in his stream. Tendai Magwaza is another versatile player who rose through the ranks. So, at Dynamos, we now have the ability to regenerate.”

Should he be appointed the substantive coach, Chigowe might not enjoy a deserved rest, as he has a lot on his plate.

Apart from preparing for the 2025 season, he has to devote some of his time to his farming project in Selous.

Chigowe is a proud owner of an A2 farm he got under the Land Reform Programme in 2003.

He worked as a human resources (HR) officer in the Ministry of Agriculture for over a decade from the 1990s to 2005.

During that time, he would juggle between junior football development and office work.

Chigowe was also involved in the formation of Douglas Warriors in 2000. Three years later, he was transferred to Gwebi College on a Ministry of Agriculture assignment.

“It was disheartening because I had to leave serious football in the capital and concentrate on work elsewhere,” he said of the transfer.

“But all was not lost as I gained something at Gwebi.”

At Gwebi College, he found himself coaching a team of agricultural extension officers, colloquially known as madhumeni.

“Winning the Chibuku trophy started a long way back,” he said, before breaking into laughter.

“In 2003, Gwebi College won a trophy that was sponsored by Chibuku. My team, which comprised Agritex officers, beat all the agricultural colleges to lift the cup.

“At the same time, I also applied for land and got an A2 farm in Selous through the Land Reform Programme.”

Chigowe is a holder of a Business Administration certificate.

He is also a qualified journalist from CCOSA in Harare and did his journalism attachment at The Herald in 1989.

“I have done this and that along this journey,” he says, with a chuckle. “My background in HR management allows me to handle the players in a professional manner.

“I believe the best players have to play. I don’t believe in getting kickbacks from players.”

The veteran coach has also been using his education to manage his farm.

“I am into maize and sunflower production,” he says.

“But I am moving into soya bean production because I want to also divert to large- scale piggery and poultry.

“Now that the season is over, I have to go to the farm regularly and make sure everything is in order.

“I am targeting 10 000 chicks and hundreds of pigs in the new year. Even if it means borrowing from the bank, I have to do it. As an African, I also have a good number of cattle.”

Chigowe did not play competitive football in Mbare where he grew up, before moving to Highfield in 1993.

“Both my maternal and paternal grandfathers owned small-scale farms. So, when others would go to Stodart in Mbare to play some football during school holidays, I would be at the farm,” he said.

“My parents didn’t want me to be a footballer, but I had to force my way back into football somehow. It was a question of whether I was going to Musengezi or to Lancashire where my grandfathers stayed.

“So, I had this early understanding of farming, but naturally, I wanted to be in football. I wasn’t as talented as Moses Chunga, but I could have played competitive football zvakangoita vamwe veshungu.”

At junior level, Chigowe even made it into a Mashonaland East select side.

But he had other fantasies as he grew up.

He could have been a guitarist, but he ended up doing temporary teaching in Banket.

“When I finished O-Level, we would go out for mangoma (clubbing), so one of the days, we came back home in the morning and I discovered there was a car parked at our house in Mbare,” he said.

“My mother, who was a nurse, had already packed my clothes and I was told I was going to Banket for a temporary teaching stint.

“I also fancied myself as a bassist, and I even had a guitar that I was given by my brother who was based in Canada.

“But I was not given a chance to decide. I was ordered to go and do temporary teaching at some primary school in Banket. Since I was a football enthusiastic, I took over coaching at the school. We went to a tournament in Trelawney and we did well.”

After that teaching stint, Chigowe came back to Harare to study Business Administration at Harare Polytechnic.

“That’s when I started coaching juniors around 1983 and 1984,” he said. “My team, National Juniors, gave rise to Cone Textiles juniors, a team that would spread its wings to Chitungwiza.

“I coached thousands of juniors who went on to play in the Premier Soccer League.

“The likes of Gilbert Mushangazhike, Obey Murefu, Marlon Jani, Tichaona Diya, Chamunoda Musanhu, Hope Chihota and the late Charles Yohanne are the boys from Mbare whom I coached at junior level.

“The latter generation that included the likes of Murape Murape, Shingi Kawondera and Kelvin Mushangazhike also came through my hands.

“I also coached Tino Kadewere’s brother,  Prince. Oh my God, what a dangerous player he was! I played a role as Steve Kwashi’s assistant when the national Under-17 qualified for the Africa Youth Championships in 1997.

“So, I am surprised when people say MaBlanyo is a novice in this game.”

Before we parted, he had one last reminder.

“People think rescuing Dynamos from relegation in 2018 was my first survival task, no,” he said. “I saved Rufaro Rovers from relegation in 1995!”

The 1995 Premier Soccer League 16-team log shows that Rufaro Rovers ended in 14th position, above Black Rhinos and Eiffel Flats, who were relegated.

Before that, Chigowe had worked at CAPS United, Zimbabwe Leopards, Fire Batteries, Black Aces and Sporting Lions.